Shoe assembly, shoe and related footwear method

ABSTRACT

A shoe includes a sole and an upper that is made of a non-woven fleece material adapted for forming a releasable hook-and-loop-type coupling to a hooked or barbed material. The invention enables a releasable attachment to the shoe, at virtually any desired location along the upper, of an ornamental element that is backed with the hooked or barbed material. More specifically, the ornamental element may be releasably secured to the upper at any of a plurality of locations and, at each location, in any of a multiplicity of orientations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a shoe. This invention also relates to anassociated shoe wearing method. This invention additionally relates to ashoe assembly.

Shoes are known that are provided with pockets for receiving keys andother items of personal property. Some shoes have pockets withtransparent outer panels for enabling visual observation of the contentsof the pocket. These pockets are all provided at locations determined bythe manufacturer. Where a hook and loop type coupling is provided forreleasable fastening of a label, pocket, or other element to a shoe, afastener of barbed or hooked material is connected to the shoe at afixed location determined by the manufacturer.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a shoe and/or a shoeassembly or kit that facilitates a customization and/or personalization.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a shoe thatis comfortable.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a shoeassembly that is easy to use.

It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide ashoe that enables a customized application of a logo, brand name, orother identification of source or sponsorship.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from thedrawings and descriptions herein. Although every object is believed tobe attained by at least one embodiment of the invention, there is notnecessarily any one embodiment that achieves all objects of theinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A shoe in accordance with the present invention comprises a sole and anupper. The upper is made of a non-woven fleece material adapted forforming a releasable hook-and-loop-type coupling to a hooked or barbedmaterial commonly marketed under the trademark VELCRO. The inventionenables a releasable attachment to the shoe, at virtually any desiredlocation along the upper, of an ornamental element which is backed withthe hooked or barbed material. More specifically, the VELCRO-backedornamental element may be releasably secured to the upper at any of aplurality of locations and, at each location, in any of a multiplicityof orientations.

The ornamental element may be sold together with the shoe, therebyforming a shoe assembly. Indeed, the ornamental element may be one of aplurality of hook- or barb-backed ornamental elements included in a shoebox with the shoe. Two or more of the ornamental elements may bereleasably attached to the upper at the same time. In that event, theornamental elements may be positioned on the upper at differentlocations and orientations.

Each ornamental element may include a symbol, a graphic representation,and/or a linguistic expression. For example, an ornamental elementattachable to a shoe upper in accordance with the present invention mayexhibit a logo, a brand name, a person's name, a sports franchisesymbol, and/or a comic-book character. An ornamental element asdiscussed herein may take the form of a geometrical design in one ormore colors, a silhouette or cameo of an animate object such as ananimal, a silhouette or cameo of a manufactured item such as a car, aword or slogan, etc.

Several ornamental elements may be used together on a shoe to generatean ornamental pattern. For instance, where several ornamental elementscarry respective words or symbols, the ornamental elements may bepositioned in a recognizable sequence on a shoe upper to generate aphrase or sentence. Words may be positioned adjacent to graphicrepresentations to generate a composite message. The relative spacingand positions of the various ornamental elements on a shoe may bemodified to generate messages of different meanings.

The ornamental elements may have shapes and colors to complement orcontrast with the color and design of the shoe upper. For instance, apurple upper may be provided with red attachments or green attachments.The ornaments may be circular or zig-zag.

On an outwardly facing side, the ornamental elements may themselves bemade of a fleece material, enabling attachment of one ornamental elementover at least a portion of another element.

The present invention enables a wearer to personalize their shoes, forinstance, by exhibiting any selected corporate or sports-franchise logoat any desired location on the shoe upper, including the side of theshoe, the back of the shoe, or even the metatarsal region. Theornamental elements on the shoe upper may be changed from day to day andmay even effectuate a total redesign of the shoe's look and feel.

A shoe in accordance with the present invention is particularlyeffective as an athletic shoe. Ornamental elements may feature sportsparaphernalia such as balls, gloves, bats, hockey sticks, helmets, skateboards, skis, ski poles, etc., or sports mascot representations such asbirds, carnivorous cats, bears, etc., or sports franchise names orlogos, etc.

Pursuant to a feature of the present invention, the shoe upper may beprovided with a plurality of markings defining attachment locations forthe ornamental element. The markings may be lines or dots on the shoeupper, which have an ornamental aspect when the shoe upper is notcovered by ornamental attachments.

A shoe assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises asole and an upper having an outer surface formed by a non-woven fleecematerial; and at least one ornamental element provided with a hooked orbarbed backing material for releasably fastening, via a hook and loopcoupling, the ornamental element to the upper at any of a multiplicityof positions thereon.

The ornamental element may be made in part of a flexible material suchas a woven or non woven fabric material, with the backing material beingconnected to the flexible material along one side thereof.

A footwear method in accordance with the present invention comprisesproviding a shoe having a sole and an upper made of a non-woven fleecematerial, placing the shoe on a foot, providing an ornamental elementhaving a hooked or barbed backing material, and releasably fastening theornamental element to the upper at any of a multiplicity of positionsthereon via a hook and loop coupling between the fleece material and thebacking element.

Where the ornamental element is made in part of a flexible material, thebacking material being connected to the flexible material along one sidethereof, the fastening of the ornamental element to the upper mayinclude bending the flexible material. This bending may be warranted,for instance, where the ornamental element is attached to the rear ofthe shoe.

Where the upper is provided with a plurality of markings definingattachment locations for the ornamental element, the method furthercomprises attaching the ornamental element to the upper at one of themarkings.

The method of the present invention may further comprise providing anadditional ornamental element having a respective hooked or barbedbacking material and releasably fastening the additional ornamentalelement to the upper at any of a multiplicity of positions thereon via ahook and loop coupling between the fleece material and the respectivehooked or barbed backing element.

The upper of a shoe in accordance with the present invention may be madeout of a single layer of material or multiple layers. In the lattercase, the outermost layer is the fleece material for forming thehook-and-loop type coupling with ornamental labels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a shoe in accordance withthe present invention, showing a decorative patch carrying a logoattached to a side panel of the shoe at an arbitrary location thereon.

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view taken along lineII-II in FIG. 1, showing the side panel of the shoe upper and thedecorative logo-bearing patch.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view on a larger scale of thedecorative logo-bearing patch of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic rear elevational view of the shoe of FIG. 1,showing an alternative location for the decorative logo-bearing patch ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side-elevational view of the shoe of FIG. 1,showing a set of alternative decorative patches attached to the shoe atarbitrary locations, pursuant to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side-elevational view of the shoe of FIG. 1,showing another set of decorative patches attached to the shoe atarbitrary locations.

FIG. 7 is a schematic rear elevational view of the shoe and patches ofFIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side-elevational view of the shoe of FIG. 1,showing a further set of alternative decorative patches attached to theshoe at arbitrary locations.

FIG. 9 is a schematic rear elevational view of the shoe and patches ofFIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a schematic side-elevational view of the shoe of FIG. 1,showing an additional set of decorative patches attached to the shoe atarbitrary locations.

FIG. 11 is a schematic rear elevational view of the shoe and patches ofFIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a schematic side-elevational view of the shoe of FIG. 1,showing yet another set of alternative decorative patches attached tothe shoe at arbitrary locations.

FIG. 13 is a schematic rear elevational view of the shoe and patches ofFIG. 12.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side-elevational view of the shoe of FIG. 1,showing yet a further set of decorative patches attached to the shoe atarbitrary locations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a shoe comprises a sole 12 and an upper 14.The shoe is typically an athletic shoe and may take the form of aso-called high-top sneaker, as indicated in phantom lines at 15. Upper14 has a metatarsal region 16, a pair of side panels 18 (only one shown)and a heel section 20. Upper 14, including metatarsal region 16, sidepanels 18 and heel section 20, is made in substantial part of anon-woven fleece material adapted for forming a releasablehook-and-loop-type coupling to a hooked or barbed material 22 that formsa backing layer of an ornamental element or patch 24 (see also FIGS. 2and 3). The hooked or barbed material 22 is commonly marketed under thetrademark VELCRO.

Upper 14 may comprise a single layer consisting of the fleece-typematerial. Alternatively, upper 14 may be provided with one or moresupport layers 23 (FIG. 2) underlying the fleece material.

Ornamental element or patch 24 may be provided on an outer or coverlayer 26 with a logo or name of an athletic shoe manufacturer. In thatcase, patch 24 functions as a label. Other types of symbolic content mayinclude a logo or name of a sports franchise or graphics pertaining to aparticular type of sport.

The hooked or barbed material 22 of ornamental element or patch 24enables a releasable attachment of the patch to the shoe, at virtuallyany desired location along upper 14. The illustrated location (solidline) of ornamental element or patch 24 is on a side panel 18. Otherequally arbitrary locations for attachment of ornamental element orpatch 24 by the manufacturer, retailer or wearer, include a position 28on the metatarsal region 16, a position 30 over a rear portion of theside panel 18 and a forward portion of the heel section 20, and aposition 32 directly over the rear portion of the heel section 20. Thus,ornamental element or patch 24 may be releasably secured to upper 14 atany of countless locations and, at each location, in any of amultiplicity of orientations. Where the shoe has a high top 15,ornamental element or patch 24 may be releasably secured to upper 14,for instance, over an ankle of the wearer.

Ornamental element or patch 24, like any of the other patches describedherein, may be sold together with the shoe, thereby forming a shoeassembly. Indeed, ornamental element or patch 24 may be one of aplurality of hook- or barb-backed ornamental elements included in a shoebox (not shown) with the shoe.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, two or more of ornamental patches 34, 36, 38,40 bearing different ornamental designs, symbols, graphicrepresentation, or linguistic expressions may be removably attached toupper 14 at the same time, at different locations and orientations onthe upper. Patch 34 may exhibit a brand name, while patch 36 carries atrademark. Patch 38 may bear a slogan, while patch 40 carries a logo. Ofcourse, the user is free to remove one or more of these ornamentalpatches 34, 36, 38, 40 at any time and optionally reattach them to upper14 at different locations and/or orientations.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show other kinds of VELCRO-backed ornamental elements orpatches 42, 44, 46, 48 50 that may be attached to upper 14. Ornamentalelement or patch 42 bears a graphic representation of baseballparaphernalia; ornamental element or patch 44 carries a graphicrepresentation of a sports mascot or comic character; ornamental elementor patch 46 exhibits a graphic representation of an automobile;ornamental element or patch 48 bears a logo; and ornamental element orpatch 50 has a linguistic expression or message consisting ofalphanumeric characters, for instance, “Eat the Frogs.”

As depicted in FIGS. 8 and 9, several specimens of the same ornamentalelement or patch 52 may be attached to upper 14 at respective locationsand orientations. These patches 52 may bear the same design or symbol,but have different background colors, to form a resonant color schemewith the color of upper 14.

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate that VELCRO-backed ornamental elements orpatches 54, 56, 58, 60 removably attachable to upper 14 may haveornamental shapes that enable the wearer to customize the artisticdesign of the shoe. Patches 54, 56, 58, 60 in particular are elongatestrips that provide a “racing” aspect to the shoe. In addition to havingan ornamental shape, patch 56 is provided with a series of ornamentalstars 62, while patches 58 and 60 carry slogans “Runners have more fun”and “Run for your life.” Patches 54,56, 58, 60 may have outer or coverlayers (not separately designated) made of fleece material for enablinga hook and loop type coupling to one another, in addition to upper 14.

FIGS. 12 and 13 provide another example of ornamental patches 64, 66, 68and 70 having irregular ornamental shapes and optionally differentcolors, as well as patches 72 and 74 having upper or outer layers (notseparately designated) made of a fleece-type material for enabling theattachment thereto of other ornamental elements such as patches 66 and68.

According to FIG. 14, several VELCRO-backed patches 76, 78, 80 eachbearing a respective symbol or word may be juxtaposed on upper 14 insuch a manner as to generate a message. In this case, patch 76, carriesa picture of an eye, while patch 78 bears a heart, commonly used torepresent the word “love.” Placed in a sequence with patch 80, whichbears the letter N and Y, these patches 76, 78, 80 communicate themessage “I love New York.” Another patch 82 carries a political sloganor message.

FIG. 14 illustrates that several ornamental elements 76, 78, 80 may beused together on a shoe to generate an ornamental pattern. Morespecifically, where several ornamental elements 76, 78, 80 carryrespective words or symbols, the ornamental elements may be positionedin a recognizable sequence on a shoe upper to generate a phrase orsentence. Words may be positioned adjacent to graphic representations togenerate a composite message. The relative spacing and positions of thevarious ornamental elements on a shoe may be modified to generatemessages of different meanings.

It is to be noted that upper 14 is made substantially or fleece-typematerial, meaning that a large portion of the upper's entire outersurface is available for the attachment of ornamental elements asdiscussed hereinabove. The user is therefore provided with numerous, ifnot numberless, possibilities for customizing the shoe as an expressionof individuality. It is to be noted further that upper 14 may includeone or more layers of materials. Inner layers (not shown) may be made ofmaterials other than the non-woven fleece material. It is only necessarythat an outer layer of the upper be made of non-woven fleece materialfor forming hook-and-loop-type couplings with one or more ornamentalpatches.

The graphic designs disclosed herein, such as those on patches 42, 44,and 46 may take the form of a silhouette or cameo. Other possibleornamental content includes people's names and sports franchise symbols.Ornamental elements as discussed herein may have geometrical shapes orcarry geometrical designs in one or more colors.

Pursuant to a feature of the present invention, the shoe upper may beprovided with a plurality of markings defining suggested attachmentlocations for the ornamental element. Thus, in FIG. 1, possiblepositions 28, 30, 32 may be marked by dot-dash lines on the upper 14itself. Alternatively, the upper may be covered with a maze of markingssuch as 90-degree corners (not shown) or dots (not shown) on the shoeupper, which have an ornamental aspect when the shoe upper is notcovered by ornamental attachments.

A shoe as described herein has an upper 14 made substantially of afleece-type material for enabling the removable attachment ofVELCRO-backed patches and designs to the upper at virtually any desiredlocation thereon. More particularly, a substantial portion, forinstance, more than half, of the entire outer surface of upper 14 ismade of the loop- or fleece-type material. Preferably, each region ofthe upper 14, namely, metatarsal region 16, sides 18, and heel section20, is formed in substantial part of the fleece material on at least anouter surface. More preferably, the entire outer surface of the upper14, with the possible exception of piping 84 and reinforcement strips86, 88, and 90, is made of fleece-type material for forming ahook-and-loop-type coupling to a barbed or hooked material. This shoestructure provides the wearer with plenty of options in deciding whereto place ornamental or logo-bearing patches. Piping 84 and reinforcementstrips 86 and 88 disposed on the upper are optionally made of fleecematerial for forming a releasable loop-and-hook-type coupling withbarbed or hooked material.

It is to be noted that the outer or cover layer 26 of an ornamentalpatch as described herein may be made of any of a wide variety ofmaterials, including plastic, woven or non-woven fabric, and leather.Where the outer or cover layer of a first ornamental patch is made ofnon-woven fleece material, another VELCRO-backed ornamental patch may beremovably attached in whole or in part over the first ornamental patch,as discussed hereinabove with reference to FIGS. 10-13.

Although the invention has been described in terms of particularembodiments and applications, one of ordinary skill in the art, in lightof this teaching, can generate additional embodiments and modificationswithout departing from the spirit of or exceeding the scope of theclaimed invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the drawingsand descriptions herein are proffered by way of example to facilitatecomprehension of the invention and should not be construed to limit thescope thereof.

1. A shoe assembly comprising: a sole; an upper made substantially of anon-woven fleece material; and at least one ornamental element providedwith a hooked or barbed backing material for releasably fastening, via ahook and loop coupling, said ornamental element to said upper at any ofa multiplicity of positions thereon.
 2. The shoe assembly defined inclaim 1 wherein said non-woven fleece material forms at least an outerlayer of said upper.
 3. The shoe assembly defined in claim 2 whereinsaid upper is formed in major part of a single layer of material, saidouter layer being said single layer, said non-woven fleece materialconstituting said single layer.
 4. The shoe assembly defined in claim 3wherein said upper has a heel section, a metatarsal region, a first sidepanel, and a second side panel all formed in substantial part by saidnon-woven fleece material.
 5. The shoe assembly defined in claim 1wherein said ornamental element is made in part of a flexible material,said backing material being connected to said flexible material alongone side thereof.
 6. The shoe assembly defined in claim 5 wherein saidflexible material is a fabric material.
 7. The shoe assembly defined inclaim 1 wherein said upper has a heel section, a metatarsal region, afirst side panel and a second side panel each formed in substantial partat least along an outer surface by said non-woven fleece material. 8.The shoe assembly defined in claim 1 wherein said ornamental elementincludes a design taken from the group consisting of a logo, a brandname, a person's name, a sports franchise symbol, and a comic-bookcharacter.
 9. The shoe assembly defined in claim 1 wherein said sole andsaid upper form an athletic shoe.
 10. The shoe assembly defined in claim1 wherein said upper is provided with a plurality of markings definingattachment locations for said ornamental element.
 11. The shoe assemblydefined in claim 1 wherein said ornamental element is one of a pluralityof ornamental elements each provided with a hooked or barbed backingmaterial for releasably fastening, via a hook and loop coupling, therespective ornamental element to said upper at any of a multiplicity ofpositions thereon.
 12. A shoe comprising: a sole; and an upper having anouter surface made in substantial part of a non-woven fleece materialadapted for forming a releasable hook-and-loop-type coupling to a hookedor barbed material, whereby an ornamental element provided on saidhooked or barbed material may be releasably secured at any of aplurality of locations and, at each location, in any of a multiplicityof orientations, to said upper.
 13. The shoe defined in claim 12 whereinsaid ornamental element includes a design taken from the groupconsisting of a logo, a brand name, a person's name, a sports franchisesymbol, and a comic-book character.
 14. The shoe defined in claim 12wherein said sole and said upper form an athletic shoe.
 15. The shoedefined in claim 12 wherein said upper is provided with a plurality ofmarkings defining attachment locations for said ornamental element. 16.A footwear method comprising: providing a shoe having a sole and anupper having an outer surface made in substantial part of a non-wovenfleece material; placing said shoe on a foot; providing an ornamentalelement having a hooked or barbed backing material; and releasablyfastening said ornamental element to said upper at any of a multiplicityof positions thereon via a hook and loop coupling between said fleecematerial and said backing element.
 17. The method defined in claim 16,further comprising providing an additional ornamental element having arespective hooked or barbed backing material; releasably fastening saidadditional ornamental element to said upper at any of a multiplicity ofpositions thereon via a hook and loop coupling between said fleecematerial and said respective hooked or barbed backing element.
 18. Themethod defined in claim 16 wherein said ornamental element is made inpart of a flexible material, said backing material being connected tosaid flexible material along one side thereof, the fastening of saidornamental element to said upper including bending said flexiblematerial.
 19. The method defined in claim 18 wherein said flexiblematerial is a fabric material.
 20. The method defined in claim 16wherein said ornamental element includes a design taken from the groupconsisting of a logo, a brand name, a person's name, a sports franchisesymbol, and a comic-book character.
 21. The method defined in claim 16wherein said shoe is an athletic shoe.
 22. The method defined in claim16 wherein said upper is provided with a plurality of markings definingattachment locations for said ornamental element, further comprisingattaching said ornamental element to said upper at one of said markings.